It is known in the prior art to stack folded cartons having ends of non-uniform thickness. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,264,255 to Saro et al. teaches a device for stacking folded boxes wherein each box has unequal thicknesses at its end portions. The '255 patent, however, does not disclose apparatus for automatically accumulating a plurality of stacks of folded cartons and inserting those accumulated stacks into a shipping container.
Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus for stacking folded cartons having ends of non-uniform thickness, accumulating those stacks, and automatically packing the stacked cartons into a shipping container.